Giannis Antetokounmpo goes viral for response to question about ‘failure’

The Milwaukee Bucks finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA, but they managed just one playoff win and were eliminated by the Miami Heat in five games. Some would view that as a failure for the No. 1 seed, but Giannis Antetokounmpo certainly does not.

Following Milwaukee’s 128-126 overtime loss in Game 5 Wednesday night, Eric Nehm of The Athletic asked Giannis if he feels the 2022-23 season was a failure.

Giannis asked Nehm if Nehm would consider a typical year at his job a failure even if he did not get a promotion. The former MVP then stopped himself and said he did not want to get “personal” but gave a thoughtful response about why non-championship seasons are not failures.

“There’s no failure in sports. There’s good days and bad days. Some days you are able to be successful, some days you’re not,” Antetokounmpo said. “Some days it’s your turn, some days it’s not. That’s what sports is about. You don’t always win. Some other team is going to win. This year, somebody else is going to win. It’s as simple as that.

“So 50 years from 1971 to 2021 that (the Bucks) did not win a championship was a failure? No, it was not. It was steps toward it. We were able to win one. Hopefully, we can win another one.”

You can hear the full response below: